A MAN was cleared of raping a woman in a Merseyside cemetery.

But Vadims Holostovs was jailed for four years today after jurors found him guilty of wounding the 24-year-old woman with intent.

Latvian Holostovs was accused of raping and sexually assaulting the woman after meeting her in a Southport bar.

But the Liverpool crown court  jury of eight women and four men took about three-and-a-half hours to clear him of both sexual offences.

The married father-of-two always admitted having sex with the woman in the cemetery in Duke Street, Southport, but insisted it was consensual.

There was drama in the courtroom today when the foreman of the jury initially responded “guilty” when asked for his verdict to the charge of rape. He was quickly corrected by other members of the panel.

But jurors found Holostovs guilty of a third charge of assaulting the woman with intent in the early hours of November 20 last year.

She was found wandering disorientated and injured about two hours after they left Bakers Bar together by two women driving to work. They took her to hospital.

Jailing Holostovs for four years for the attack, Judge David Aubrey QC said: “She [the victim] was described as a lively, outgoing, bubbly person.